Victorian IT minister calls for national broadband strategy

August 2 2002

The Federal Government needs to urgently set a bold agenda for broadband rather than relying on Telstra's targets for broadband take-up, the Victorian Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Marsha Thomson said yesterday.

Ms Thomson said Telstra's recent announcement on broadband uptake and their $900 million capital investment was commendable, but stressed that Australia was slipping behind the rest of the world because of the Federal Government's failure to set a clear broadband agenda.

"Telstra's forecast of only one million broadband customers by 2005 highlights the lack of leadership displayed by the Federal Government on telecommunications. We need a national strategy that sets goals for the telecommunications industry that will benefit all Australians.

"It is good to see that Telstra has a strategy for its broadband commitments, but it is the role of the Federal Government, not Telstra, to determine the telecommunications infrastructure agenda for Australia," she said.

Ms Thomson also expressed concern over the recent report in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2002 that Australia has slipped from fifth to fifteenth in technology infrastructure.");document.write("